November 18, 2017

When I was 16, I was commandeered, against my will, to write a poem. We were having an end of year arts competition at school and one of the activities included poetry reading. We were all sitting around having a house meeting one fine afternoon when the house captain blurted out, “I nominate Lafani to write the poem.” Startled, I replied, “I don’t write poetry. I don’t know how to write poetry,” but it fell on deaf ears. “How hard can it be? You’re writing all the time, aren’t you? We ...

We’ve all met them at one point or the other in our lives. People who say you can’t be something or do something. They try to convince you you’re not qualified enough or smart enough. They point out every obstacle in your way, both real and imaginary, and try to discourage you. They see the glass as half empty. They see all the problems in every opportunity. They are noisy and they are known as dream killers. I’ve had my share of these type of people over the years. They come in all forms ...